Strength
by ByeByeSanity
Summary: Sakura might not have had a choice in becoming a shinobi, but that didn't mean that she was not going to take advantage of her opportunity to protect her family.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura Haruno never wanted to become a shinobi.

Growing up knowing that she had to attend the academy regardless of her desires never sat well with her. The Village Hidden in the Leaves, as well as the other major villages, had a clause written into their constitution that required all immigrants to enter their first born child into the shinobi academy.

Unfortunately Sakura was the first born of her parent's three children. She also happened to be the smallest.

Fortunately, Sakura had a plan. Attend the academy, graduate at the latest age possible and attain a desk job for the required eight years. At five, the plan seemed like a good idea, but like most plans there was a change.

At the age of four, Sakura and her two younger siblings were caught in the cross fire between Konoha Military Police and a foreign shinobi. The foreign shinobi held her younger sister hostage in an attempt to escape the police, using the one year old as shield to deter any sudden movements.

The helplessness that Sakura felt that day changed her mind of coasting through the academy.

Sakura entered the civilian academy the fall of the year that she turned 5. The class that she was placed in was filled with other civilian children whose parents were immigrants to Konoha, therefore their admission into the academy was mandatory.

Sakura worked harder during the first two months of the academy year than she ever had before. Every day she came home tired and ready to collapse. One day, a mysterious man came to their class to observe their practices. Even though she was only six, Sakura wasn't stupid. Rumors from the previous grades always foretold of a man with a cane visiting a class, only for students to go missing that same day. When parents asked after their missing children, they were always told that the child was put into a special advanced program.

So the moment Sakura saw the man she regressed in skills. She was always told that her chakra control was amazing for a child her age and that her taijutsu skills were slightly above average for her age and build. But for that day she pretended like she knew next to nothing about taijutsu and her control over her chakra was normal.

The presence that the man exuded was downright frightening. The two masked shinobi that followed after him walked with military precision and synchronization. It felt unnatural. The man paid particularly close attention to one of the boys in the class who was ranked the highest in the class. During their taijutsu matches, Sakura fumbled and tripped to the bemusement of their sensei, while the boy, Daisuke, threw a text book perfect right hook followed by a high kick to his opponent. Daisuke was always treated better than the other students because of his ability to manipulate ink. Sakura knew the boy wasn't going to be in class tomorrow.

Later that day after getting home from the academy Sakura was proven right. The same day every year (the second Monday of every November), the parents of the civilian academy student's waited anxiously outside of the school for their children to be dismissed. Sometimes, students were delayed at the school and got home later than usual. However, that wasn't the fate of Daisuke and several other students that attended the academy. Sakura watched as Daisuke's mother, a pretty brunette from down the street, broke down in tears when Daisuke didn't come home. In his place was a letter explaining his acceptance into an accelerated program, delivered by one of the masked shinobi from before.

That night Sakura's parents held her tightly in a hug that felt suffocating. She knew she did the right thing.

Sakura was nervous. Today her class found out which class that they would be placed into for their last three years in the academy. Last week the civilian academy held its annual final exams to test the skill level of each student to determine whether they would stay in the civilian academy or move on to the ninja academy wherein they would be in the lineup to become genin.

Months before the exams, Sakura trained as hard as she could to ensure that she would be placed into the ninja academy. Even though not everyone in the ninja academy went on to become certified shinobi, it was still a better bet than being placed into the civilian academy where the destiny of the students was to become military cannon fodder.

As a student in the ninja academy, Sakura had a better bet at learning the skills necessary to protect her family.

The crowd of students surrounding the bulletin board located outside that displayed the fate of each student was dense with eager nine year olds trying to find out what class they would be put in for the next school year.

Sakura waited impatiently in the back of the crowd, waiting for the other children to thin out before stepping forward to find out her fate. A grin broke across her face as she found her name listed on the list for the ninja academy. Her hard work paid off! She was going to become a ninja!

Over the next two months of her school break, Sakura read up on as much material as she could find to prepare herself for the academy. According to the civilians who were in a grade above her, the first several weeks of ninja academy was going over the history of Konoha, the history of the Elemental Nations and basic geography. Sakura was not going to leave anything out. She was going to study everything.

On the first day of class, Sakura smoothed down the front of her red skirt and took in a deep breath to prepare herself. Exhaling, she held her head up high and pushed her shoulders back to make herself appear confident. Sakura took a step forward and opened the door. Her first impression of her new classmates for the next three years was dread. From what she could see from her vantage point in the doorway the majority of her new classmates were clan children and that meant that she had to work even harder than before to become stronger.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Never before had a situation highlighted her disadvantages as the current situation that Sakura found herself in. The obstacle course that Sakura was staring at was on another level from the one that she was used to completing in the civilian academy.

The obstacle course was taller and more complicated than she was used to. The civilian academy obstacle course was only a harder version of a playground that students had to complete under five minutes.

On the other hand, the monstrosity that Sakura was gaping at did not seem similar to that at all. The first part of the obstacle was a six meter sprint to a small trampoline that the academy students had to jump onto to launch themselves at a wooden plank that was hanging suspended from the ground by way of a giant structure. From what Sakura could see from her position, they had to somehow move their way across the plank with their hands and jump to the next plank to do the same to land, finally on the other side of the platform.

The first contestant, a shaggy haired boy who came from the civilian academy, launched himself at the first plank only to find himself hitting the mats with a dull ' _thunk'_ when the plank turned sideways in his grasp, causing him to lose his grip and fall.

From the giggles that came from the other academy students, they knew that was going to happen.

The next stage was made of two long boards that had balls going down the bottom of each side. The boards hung about the same height from the ground as the two wooden planks and were made from metal. The next contestant, a dark haired boy from one of the lower clans made it across the globes all the way to the next stage, before he too fell.

The stage that he fell at was eight trampolines facing each other at an angle from each other with four on each side. The goal of this stage was to hop from one trampoline to the other until the constants made it to the platform on the other side. Hit the trampoline in the wrong spot and the person gets launched either well below the other side or across the trampolines that they were trying to hit.

The second to last stage was a giant half arch the academy students had to run up to grab the edge to pull themselves up on to the top. It didn't _look_ that hard to do, but as Sakura watched student after student struggle to grasp the edge of the ledge, only to fall, Sakura changed her mind. Not many students had the upper body strength to pull themselves up and onto the ledge.

The last stage seemed easy enough to do but Sakura knew there was some kind of catch. The current contestant doing the last stage made it halfway through before it seemed as if his arms had given out, causing him to loosen his grip and fall towards the mat lying underneath the contraption. In the final stage, students had to use a bar to lunge up two posts that had claws for the bar to land on. If the student didn't use enough force, then they would miss the next level and fall, but if they used too much force then they collided with the underside of the claws on the next level, causing themselves to fall.

Like the obstacle course itself wasn't enough, they also had to complete it in under five minutes. So far no one managed the five minutes although most of the clan kids managed to complete the course itself.

According to their sadistic teacher, the course was designed to train their upper body strength.

Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled while saying a quiet prayer. Their teacher tapped her on the shoulder to signal her to start. Sakura took off running.

At home Sakura poured the last bucket of ice into a tub. The course was brutal, their teacher was worst. Each student was made to compete two more times so that their teachers could have a base score of their skill level. Since no one was able to do the course by the standards set, they had to perform extra katas.

What made the course even harder was that they had yet to learn how to control and regulate their chakra properly. Of course the clan kids had an unfair advantage because their clan started teaching them the basics that they weren't supposed to learn until next year.

Sakura grimaced as she lowered her sore, aching, body into the icy water. Her body's entrance into the water caused an ice water wave to form that spilled over the edge of the tub, creating a mess on the bathroom tile floor.

The cold temperature of the ice bath felt good against Sakura's stressed muscles. Muscles that she thought were well developed for her age, was throbbing in time with her heart beat, making it hard to hear anything else but her heartbeat and her breathing.

Unfortunately the course was just as hard to complete as she thought it would be for herself. The clan kids made it look so _easy_ to do, when Sakura knew for a fact that they had practice on such courses in their clan's private training grounds.

Sakura was used to being at the top of her class. She was used to being able to complete tasks that the other students were not able to do. So to be at the bottom of the class in regards to a lesson, was a horrible feeling.

The past two months since the start of the academy school year showed her just how lacking she was when compared with children who come from ninja clans. The only lesson that Sakura was truly better at than the other students was chakra control.

Compared to the other students, Sakura could manipulate her chakra inside of her body to go wherever she wanted it to go. However, the clan kids could manipulate a portion of their chakra outside of their body. Tomorrow after class, Sakura vowed to track down one of the older students to teach her how to do the same as well. Sakura winced when she adjusted her body better under the melting ice, causing a previously unknown bruise to announce its presence. Well maybe she could track them down the day after tomorrow, or even the weekend.

The sound of the door opening caught Sakura's attention. Narrowing her eyes through the pain of turning her upper body towards the direction of the door, Sakura watched as a pink haired blob peeked around the corner of the door. Sakura's sight cleared enough for her to make out the shape of her second youngest sister.

Tsubaki's wide blue eyes stared intently at her sister's face for a moment before the six year old scampered into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind herself.

"What's wrong, Tsubaki?" Sakura asked while sitting up in the tub.

Tsubaki scrambled to sit on the edge of the tub and stared at Sakura with big blue eyes. The little girl held out her hand that was previously hidden behind her back. In her palm was a cookie. Sakura glanced up at her sister curiously, silently wondering what was so important about the cookie (other than the fact that Tsubaki was not supposed to have it).

Tsubaki's eyes welled with tears. "It'sa sthuck." She whispered. To demonstrate that the cookie was 'stuck', she flipped her palm face down. To Sakura's amazement, the cookie didn't budge. Sakura sat up further in the tub and grabbed her sister's hand to examine the phenomenon.

Upon further poking, Sakura _felt_ Tsubaki's chakra. Her chakra was calm and soothing. It felt like cold water on a hot day, lapping at her feet. Tsubaki was able to do something that not even Sakura could do. She even did it without proper training.

Sakura's amazement seeped out of her body and her smile slipped off of her face. Her blood felt as if it had frozen in her body.

It was the three month mark into Tsubaki's second year at the academy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

That Saturday found Sakura clutching Tsubaki's right hand in her left hand with her right hand balled into a fist, prepared to knock on the door of the house in front of her. Sakura hesitated, before squaring her shoulders and knocking solidly on the wooden door.

While waiting for the door to open, Sakura looked down at her little sister, wondering if what she was about to do was the right thing to do. It was already bad enough that the village was requiring her whole family to go through the civilian academy just because of their diluted heritage, but if it were to be known just how advanced Tsubaki was for her age then there was no telling what would happen to her. The worst that Sakura could think of was Tsubaki simply disappearing.

The door opened, interrupting Sakura's musings before they took a turn for the worst.

"Sakura-san, Tsubaki-san, what brings you to my home?" Rock Lee asked while opening the door wider so that the two sisters could enter the small house. Lee led the two girls to the living room and gestured for them to sit on the old couch in the center of the room.

Lee went into the kitchen and returned with a tray bearing a tea kettle and three cups. He poured the hot water onto the tea leaves in each cup and handed one to each sister.

Setting down her cup after a small sip, Sakura finally answered Lee's question.

"Lee-san, I know you entered the academy last year and I, well we, need your help with something." Sakura picked up the tea cup, took a sip, fiddled with the handle, and then put the cup back down then raised her gaze to meet that of Lee's.

"Whatever it is Sakura-san, I will do my best to help you." Lee's kind smile bolstered Sakura's confidence.

"Do you remember the disappearances that occur each year within the second year of the civilian academy?" Even though Lee's small dimmed slightly, Sakura speeded on. "Well this is Tsubaki's second year and if I don't do something to help her, it's very likely that she'll disappear too."

Although the disappearance were something like a tradition at the civilian academy, no one actually spoke about it. In fact, there was a rumor that a family planned to go to the Hokage's office with a complaint, but before they could they all disappeared, even the family's toddler went missing. Since then, no one spoke about the disappearances for fear that the same would happen to them.

A dark voice whispered in Sakura's head, that maybe Lee would snitch on her for trying to cheat the system, but Sakura reminded that voice that Lee and his family, out of everyone else, would be the last people to willingly betray anyone to the village. She reminded herself that Lee was his parent's second child, with the first being 'enrolled' in the villages accelerated program.

Sakura watched with a little trepidation as Lee contemplated her words. Doubts began to form in her head and for a moment she prepared to knock the older boy out and bolt from his house, and possibly even the village itself.

Before Sakura could start to enact her plan, Lee's smile returned full force and a determined light entered his eyes. "What do you need to know and how can I help?"

For a moment, Sakura thought her heart was going to pound from out of her chest. Looking down at Tsubaki, Sakura felt that she had a chance. That _they_ had a chance.

Later that day found Sakura and Tsubaki waiting with Lee in the middle of one of Konoha's many meadows in its forest. The older boy had contacted someone on his house phone, much to Sakura's nervousness. Whoever was on the older line sounded young, about their age which put Sakura's nerves at ease. Even though the words were muffled, Sakura got the feeling that the other kid on the line was slightly annoyed. After asking the other kid for help with a situation, to which they agreed, Lee told them to meet in their 'usual spot', which was the meadow that they were currently standing in.

After walking the edge of the meadow twice, Lee stopped in front of Sakura and Tsuabki with a strange look on his face. But before he could say anything, a rustling noise signaled the presence of another person. Lee and Sakura both tensed, however Lee relaxed and Sakura followed after with reluctance.

The new person was a girl about their age wearing a light colored yukata with long brown hair. The most unusual thing about the girl was her eyes. It seemed as if she didn't have a pupil or iris, but as the girl walked closer, Sakura could see that she did actually have an iris and it was only a light lavender color. She was a Hyuga

The girl scanned Sakura and her sister and turned to Lee with a scowl on her pretty features. "Care to explain why you decided to call the number that I told you was only supposed to be used for emergencies."

Lee turned a blinding smile on the girl. "I'm glad you decided to come Neji-san because this situation really is an emergency.

Lee motioned to the two pink haired girls standing quietly behind him. "These are my friends, Haruno Sakura-san and Haruno Tsubaki-san. Sakura-san, Tsubaki-san, this is Hyuga Neji-san."

Lee beckoned the two girls closer. "Neji-san has the best chakra control in our class, he can help you with your problem."

Sakura eyed the other girl – no, the _boy_ – warily, she didn't know if she could trust the other academy student. She was entrusting the fate of her sister and the rest of her family on someone who she didn't know, someone from one of Konoha's prestigious shinobi clans.

Neji's pale eyes watched as Sakura blocked his view of her little sister. The strange color of her hair pinged a distance memory in his mind. For some reason, pink hair seemed very important. Briefly ignoring the two girls, Neji turned his attention to Lee who was staring at him with a wide smile and sparkling eyes.

"You know I cannot train with members outside of the clan. We were fortunate enough to be allowed to train together." Neji said quietly. If possible, Lee's smile widened even more.

"Tsubaki-san has a problem that I think you would be interested in solving." That caught Neji's attention. Faster than Sakura could react, Lee reached behind Sakura's back and gently pulled Tsubaki forward.

All of the muscles in Sakura's body seemed to clench up, while her breath started to come faster and harder. Lee was _fast_. His speed was not something that Sakura thought that she could beat, but she would try.

As if sensing her growing hostility, Lee looked over his shoulder and gave her a small smile. "Relax Sakura-san, Neji-san is trustworthy. He would not tell anyone."

Sakura released the breath that she was holding and slowly relaxed her tense body. She stared at Lee's singular braid. His hair was long enough to reach just below mid back and was thick enough to be confused for a black hawser rope.

Neji arched an eyebrow at the eldest girl but turned his attention to Lee when the boy stepped within his personal space with the youngest girl. Lee rummaged for something in one of his pockets to produce a dull kunai, which he placed in the younger girl's hand. Neji watched quietly as Lee turned the girl's hand palm side down, and to Neji's amazement, the kunai didn't fall.

The girl, Sakura, stepped up from behind Lee's back to stand next to him. She looked Neji in his eyes and spoke quietly. "Everything she picks up sticks to her hand, until someone else removes it."

Neji stared back at Sakura and wondered why they didn't go to one of the academy instructors. When he received the call from Lee earlier that day asking for an emergency meeting, he did not think that it would lead to _this._ Even though Tsubaki was a civilian academy student, her academy instructors should be able to help the Haruno's with their situation. But as Neji looked from one civilian born academy student to the next, he realized that this was one of those situations that Lee told him about.

Civilians were not treated the same as shinobi or shinobi clans. They did not receive the same medical treatment or coverage, they did not have as many rights or a voice within the government. The power of the governor in charge of civilian district was only an illusion. They had no real say-so with any of the decisions made by the Council or the Hokage.

However it was even worse for immigrants. Immigrants were expected to earn their rights within the village and prove their loyalty. Sometimes it took an immigrant family two or three generations before they could be considered actual 'citizens' of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. That made it easy to believe that no one would really care if one out of hundreds of civilian academy students died because their chakra network did not align properly

Neji knew how it felt to be considered non-important. He knew how it felt to be ignored or disregarded just because of where, when and who he was born to. He knew how it felt to be in Sakura and Tsubaki's position. To be afraid to trust the adults around him, to not know what to do or who to go to. So with this in mind, Neji came to his decision.

"This area is too public, come with me, I know of a place where we can talk more privately." Neji said quietly.

The brilliant smile that the two girls gave him and the thumbs up that Lee shot his way told Neji that he made the correct decision.


End file.
